Álvaro Hodeg taken away in ambulance after nasty barrier crash at Belgian race

Álvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) was stretchered into an ambulance to be taken to hospital following a nasty crash at a Belgian race.

Coming into the finishing straight of the Tour de l'Eurométropole, Deceuninck - Quick-Step led the peloton, ready to give Hodeg, who was sitting in the first five wheels, the ideal lead-out to contest the sprint finish.

>>> All three 2019 Grand Tour winners set to line up for Il Lombardia

However, the Colombian took the corner wide, clipping the barriers and left lying in a heap on the floor as his bike came to rest a fair distance further up the road.

Piet Allegaert (Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise) went on to win the race, with television pictures then showing Hodeg being loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher and wearing a neck brace. The Colombian cycling federation say they are awaiting official confirmation from medical officials as to the injuries suffered by the sprinter.

After the finish Deceuninck - Quick-Step said: "Álvaro Hodeg is on his way to the hospital, where he will be assessed by the doctors."

New road race World Champion Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) was showing off his rainbow jersey for the first time at the Belgian race. However, the Dane failed to finish the race, abandoning with 50km left having been suffering with a head cold.

Deceuninck - Quick-Step's Florian Sénéchal finished second, in what has been an eventful few days for the Frenchman after he was involved in a fight with Sunweb's Max Walscheid after the finish of the Münsterland Giro while the German was being interviewed on live television.

Whilst Walscheid is answering a question from the interviewer, Sénéchal's hand flashes across the screen, coming into contact with Walscheid's helmet before the German lashes out in retaliation and Sénéchal's team-mates hold him back.

It has been suggested Sénéchal may have blamed Walscheid for a crash in the final 200m, as he attempted to lead out Hodeg, with the Colombian winning the German one-day race.